250 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. X. No. 250 



York, recently, is as follows : ' Seismoscopes and Seismological In- 

 vestigations,' T. C. Mendenhall ; ' On the Primary Specializations 

 of the True Fishes,' E. D. Cope; 'A Study of the Behavior of 

 Metals under Variations of Temperature,' William A. Rogers; 

 ■' Chemism in its Relations to Temperature and Pressure,' T. Sterry 

 Hunt ; ' On the Mechanical Origin of the Structures of the Hard 

 Parts of the Mammalia,' E. D. Cope ; ' Progressive Series in Chem- 

 istry,' T. Sterry Hunt; ' Kilauea, a Basalt Volcano,' J. D. Dana ; 

 ' Circulation ,of the Sea through New York Harbor,' Henry Mitchell ; 

 ' On a Study of Color Contrast,' Ogden N. Rood ; ' On the Relative 

 Variability of Men and Women,' ' On a New Form of Reproduc- 

 tion in Medusas.' and ' On the Lucayan Indians,' W. K. Brooks; 

 ■' Experiments in Measurements of Statical Electricity in Absolute 

 Units,' and ' On Potential as measured by Work, a Mathematical 

 Discussion,' A. M. Mayer; 'A Comparison of Antipodal Faunas,' 

 Theo. Gill ; ' On a Discovery Recently made in Connection with the 

 Flight of Birds,' W. P. Trowbridge ; ' On the Determination of 

 Star Magnitudes by Photography,' E. C. Pickering; 'On the Con- 

 stant of Aberration,' A. Hall; 'The Cretaceous Coals of Western 

 North America,' and ' The Future of Gold and Silver Production,' 

 J. S. Newberry ; ' The Temperature of the Moon,' S. P. Langley ; 

 ' On a Method of Making the Wave-Length of Sodium Light the 

 Absolute Standard of Length,' A. A. Michelson and E. W. Morley. 



— The increase of interest in the sciences centring about a 

 scientific education in England is well shown in the announce- 

 ments of lectures to be given in connection with the Associa- 

 tion for the Education of Women at Oxford. The three courses 

 are, on mind, its conditions and functions, by Mr. W. L. Courtney; 

 on the outlines of the history of education, by Mrs. Scott ; and on 

 elementary physiology, by Mr. Dixey. 



— It is encouraging to see the appearance of new editions of 

 books of acknowledged excellence. Macmillan's publishing-house 

 has just prepared new editions of Lotze's ' Metaphysics ' and of 

 Sidgwick's ' Principles of Political Economy.' The latter contains 

 -some emendations and omissions from the text of the first edition, 

 and the preface credits Schonberg with exerting an influence on the 

 author's economic thought. The new edition of Lotze is in two 

 volumes, handsomely gotten up, and offered at a very low price. 

 We trust it will be widely read, for the Spectator only expressed the 

 opinion of all philosophical workers when it said, " No man of let- 

 ters, no specialist in science, no philosopher, no theologian, but 

 would derive incalculable benefit from the thorough study of Lotze's 

 system of philosophy." 



— The Industrial Education Association is about to issue leaflets 

 _giving concise information on points of its work regarding which 

 questions are continually asked. The first will be ready in a few 

 days, and will state compactly what the argument for manual 

 training is. 



— Several of the commissioners of Chinese customs, in their re- 

 ports for the past year, which have just reached this country, says 

 the London Times, refer to the competition in the English market 

 between teas from India and China. The commissioner at Han- 

 kow says that at that port for the year the fine teas bought for 

 England have lost all around. " All tea-buyers say that Indian tea 

 is the tea of the future for people who can afford to pay for a 

 ^ood article. There is no reliable market for choice China tea. 

 Cheap tea — ' beautiful two-shilling tea' — bought here to land at 

 sixpence a pound, is what seems to be wanted. It can be sold at 

 a price to suit any pocket, and can be made quite drinkable and 

 given a body by the addition of a few pennyworths of good, full- 

 flavored Indian." Similarly the commissioner at Foochow remarks 

 that one feature of the tea trade of the year has been the neglect of 

 teas over a shilling a pound in the London market almost through- 

 out the season. This discourages the production of the finer kinds 

 -of tea in China. Year by year the competition of the Indian teas 

 displaces the finer qualities of the China leaf, " in spite of which 

 there are many of experience in the trade who maintain that if the 

 old quality were again forthcoming from China she would soon re- 

 cover the position she seems to be losing in the world's consump- 

 tion of this article." In Shanghai the commissioner reports an 

 increase in the export of tea, but says it is due to the improved 



demand in England and Russia for low-grade teas, but the. mer- 

 chants have lost no medium and fine quality teas, the rates for them 

 being unprecedentedly low. " This depreciation in their value in 

 England is partly assignable to a falling-off in the Russian demand 

 for fine tea ; but the want of keeping properties in China leaf, prob- 

 ably owing to hasty and imperfect preparation, has also a good 

 deal to do with it." Fine China teas have not been bought for 

 Russia because of an increase in the import duty, and, in place of 

 increasing the price to the retail purchaser, an inferior leaf has been 

 purchased." 



— The German Academical Union, in its last general meeting 

 at Berlin, laid down the following principles of reform for the Ger- 

 man schools : (i) The children are in many ways overburdened 

 by the present scholastic system ; (2) There is not sufficient har- 

 mony between the school and the home life ; (3) The training of 

 the body is not attended to in proportion to that of the mind; (4) 

 The exclusive privileges belonging at present to the classical 

 schools, as securing an entrance to the learned professions, ought 

 to be extended to the modern schools ; (5) There ought to be an 

 easy access from the elementary schools to the middle and higher 

 schools ; (6) The Einheitsschule is the most pressing need of the 

 present time. 



— The forty-third annual meeting of the Massachusetts Teachers' 

 Association will be held in the Girls' High-School building, Boston, 

 Friday and Saturday, Nov. 25 and 26. The following programme 

 is published : — Nov. 25, ' English in Secondary Schools,' by Wil- 

 liam R. Shipman, D.D., professor of rhetoric. Tufts College, dis- 

 cussion to be opened by W. C. Collar, head master of Roxbury 

 Latin School ; 'What the Public demands from the Public Schools,' 

 by N. A. Calkins, superintendent of schools. New York City ; ' The 

 Care of Children,' by Henry C. Harden, master of the Shurtleff 

 School, Boston ; ' The Care of Our Younger School-Children,' by 

 Ann E. Newell, Alger Primary School, Boston ; ' Can the Principles 

 of Civil Government be taught in Schools?' by Albert Bushnell 

 Hart, Ph.D., instructor in history. Harvard University, discussion to 

 be opened by Ray Greene Huling, principal of the High School, 

 New Bedford ; ' Some Notes on Secondary Schools in Europe,' by 

 George A. Bacon, Ph.D., editor of The Academy, Syracuse, N.Y.; 

 ' Arithmetic in the Grammar School,' by Francis A. Walker, Ph.D., 

 LL.D., president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, dis- 

 cussion ; ' Modifications needed in the Grammar-School Curricu- 

 lum,' by A. P. Stone, LL.D., superintendent of schools, Springfield, 

 discussion ; ' Language,' by George I. Aldrich, superintendent of 

 schools, Ouincy, discussion to be opened by Larkin Dunton, LL.D., 

 head master of the Normal School, Boston ; ' Sight-Reading,' by 

 Mary I. Lovejoy, principal of the Broadway School, Chelsea, to be 

 followed by class exercises, illustrating progressive stages in the 

 first, second, and third years, discussion to be opened by William 

 T. Harris, LL.D., Concord. Nov. 26, ' Report of the Committee on 

 Necrology,' by Nathaniel T. Allen, chairman; 'Grammar-School 

 Education ' (report of the Committee on Educational Progress), by 

 Ray Greene Huling, chairman ; ' Character as an Object of School- 

 Education,' by Louisa P. Hopkins, supervisor of schools, Boston, 

 discussion to be opened by Robert Swan, master of the Winthrop 

 School, Boston ; ' How to secure the Better Preparation of Teach- 

 ers,' by Ellen Hyde, principal of the State Normal School, Framing- 

 ham, discussion to be opened by A. G. Boyden, principal of the 

 State Normal School, Bridgewater. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*^* Tke attention of scientific men is called to the advantages of the co 

 columns of ^QX^^Q.^ for placing promptly on record brief Preliminary notices of 

 their investigations. Ttuenty copies of the number containi7tg his com»iunicatio?i 

 will be fur7iished free to any correspondent on request. 



The editor will be glad to publish any queries conso7iant with the character of 

 the journal. 



Correspondents are requested to be as brief as Possible. The "writer's 7iante is 

 in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



Amnesia. 



It seems to me that cases of amnesia like those mentioned in 

 Science for Nov. 1 1 are not very rare ; certainly three such cases 

 have fallen under my own observation within the last twenty years. 



